"So the vampire queen has already started her journey, huh?"
The thought lingered in his mind as the previous system warning had set a clear timer.
She was out there moving across the continent, and getting stronger was no longer just a loose goal.
It was a strict requirement for survival.
A full twenty-four hours had passed since leaving Lyra behind.
Taking a new route had seemed smart at the time. Avoiding her patrol path kept the corrupted wolves at bay.
It also meant wandering blindly through uncharted territory.
The dense trees offered zero directions, and the terrain was unfamiliar.
Navigation relied purely on guessing the sun's position.
Now, the physical consequences were slowly setting in.
Hunger clawed viciously at his empty stomach as his vision kept blurring at the edges.
The borrowed green shirt clung to his sweating back, and leaning against a rough pine trunk provided a brief, necessary rest.
Food was an immediate necessity.
